Happy New Year and it is the time of year again for CAO applications. The CAO deadline of February 1st 2015 is fast approaching. The CAO application process can be stressful for students and parents. Here are a few tips that can ensure you do it effectively and with as little stress as possible:

I regularly meet people who are just waiting for the perfect job advert to appear in the paper and their dream job to land in their lap. Only this week a friend was in tears frustrated by the usual job seeking tactics. She heavily relied on job adverts and application procedures and was getting very poor results. Every day, she sat at home waiting for change to happen. I suggested that she take a more active approach to her job search and get out and network. Now, many people shy away from networking and consider it as ‘pushy’. We need to reframe our attitudes to networking and see it as helping others and adapting and connecting with them.

Over a glass of fruity white wine and a mouth-watering starter in ‘The French Paradox’ in Dublin, the waitress told me the story of her career – so far. This 21-year-old effervescent waitress bowled me over with her zest for life.

A young handsome dark haired man came to me for career advice. In my mind, I thought, I thought, he could be an actor, a model or be in a boy band or perhaps be a finalist in the X Factor! The possibilities were endless. With his chiselled handsome looks of dark hair and eyes and his pleasing personality he could have given the Hollywood actors a run for their money.

Drinking in the sun high on a café terrace in the hilltop Village of Casperia in Italy, Eliza and I had a session to look at Eliza’s ideal career life. In her personal life, Eliza was deliriously happy. However, her work life left her feeling unfulfilled. On paper it looked like Eliza had everything going for her, a well-paid job in London as a marketing manager of major shopping centres and retail property clients. In actual fact, she loved the clients and the team around her and yet there was a gaping hole within her in terms of work satisfaction.

What do death and careers got in common?
Sarah is a young single Mum of 28 years. For many years now she has been grappling with career choice. Internally, she feels stuck going back and forth between two choices of Business and Health Sciences.

In attending the Inspired Entrepreneur Programme in London with Nick Williams I picked up some of the following tips and adapted them:

1. Create a Vision of Where You Want to Be in Your Life

Imagine your ideal life, your ideal work. What do you want it to look like and feel like? What would you like to hear yourself saying about your ideal life situation? Transcend your current situation, worries and cares and think about where you want to be long term. Create a ‘vision board’ containing pictures, words and images of what you want, or write a paragraph on your dream life.

James (not his real name) wants to get into a course that requires over 500 points. Thinking about the points required for the course and the effort needed overwhelms him. James feels it’s like he’s trying to scale an insurmountable mountain.